


the blood on our hands

by santanico



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Character Death, F/F, Female Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Other, Platonic Female/Female Relationships, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-02
Updated: 2013-09-02
Packaged: 2017-12-25 11:05:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/952333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/santanico/pseuds/santanico
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Caroline, Elena, and Bonnie leave Mystic Falls after Bonnie finally keeps her promise of ending Damon's life. Probably set in some alt-verse after the first few episodes of season 2.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the blood on our hands

**Author's Note:**

> Majorly platonic, romantic/sexual undertones could possibly be observed. Read as you like!

Caroline holds a pail full of ice and smiles weakly at Bonnie and Elena, sitting on the queen sized bed. “I got ice,” she says and steps into the hotel room, slowly shutting the door behind her.

Elena rolls onto her side, facing Caroline as she sets the ice down on the floor, patting her thighs as if to wipe her hands free of any dirt as she stands up straight again. Bonnie’s fingers find the nape of Elena’s neck and begin to rub gently. Their touches only provide a small comfort, but it’s better than emptiness.

Caroline sits at the end of the bed and rests a hand on Elena’s ankle. “Do you think things are going to change?” she asks without making eye contact with either Bonnie or Elena. It isn’t necessarily a rhetorical question, but it doesn’t require an actual answer either.

No one says anything, and after a moment, Bonnie and Caroline both lie down on either side of Elena, their bodies close together. It isn’t intimacy, exactly, but it is comfort. It’s warmth.

Bonnie’s hand closes over Elena’s. Caroline listens to Bonnie’s breathing. Elena keeps her eyes closed and wonders if Caroline will ever relax.

Damon is dead. The simplicity of the sentence makes the fact seem so normal, untouchable. Caroline thinks it should have happened a long time ago, years before today, but no one had had the audacity to save themselves until now. Maybe no one trusted themselves before. Caroline knows she hadn’t.

Bonnie though – Bonnie is truly fearless.

“I made a promise.”

Elena had been afraid at first. “Bonnie, please…” But she couldn’t think of a response that made sense. Couldn’t imagine how she could have gone through all these motions, had him leave bruises on her arms and hurt her friends, and still be okay that he was alive. That he was moving. That he was going to hurt somebody.

Damon yells. There isn’t anything he can do, in any case. The fire is consuming, and it wraps around him like a tight blanket, singing his skin and burning his clothes. His face is burning. Caroline is crying, her hands clinging tight to the back of Bonnie’s dress. Her make-up is running down her face and he lips are trembling. Elena knows, by this point, that even if she wanted Bonnie to stop she couldn’t make her. She couldn’t break her out of the concentration she’s built.

Damon’s howls dissipate. The fire burns itself out until there’s nothing but concrete and ash. Elena never believed in an eye for an eye, but Bonnie promised.

“If he ever hurts anyone, ever again…”

Her voice plays like a record in Elena’s head, a reminder.

They had run. Probably not forever, but a vampire and a witch could keep Elena from being found for some time, at least. They took Caroline’s car, and Caroline compelled her mother not to report her missing. If anyone asked, they went on a short vacation. No, she didn’t know when they were coming back. No, she didn’t think anything was wrong.

It wouldn’t convince much of anyone, but it would keep the authorities off their tails for a while at least. Elena calls Jeremy, but he doesn’t answer his phone. She doesn’t dare call Stefan. She can never look at Stefan, ever again.

Caroline cries the entire car ride, and Bonnie sits in the driver’s seat, eyes held steady on the road, hands never moving. They finally stop at a hotel in Kentucky, sometime in the early hours of the morning. 

It becomes a story of trust-building, where Caroline uses compulsion to get them to safety, to get them food and clean clothes. Bonnie is still strong, despite her shaky hands.

“We’re in this together,” Caroline whispers, pressing her forehead to Elena’s on the bed – it smells like bleach-stained cotton. They hardly touch besides slight grazes, three girls on a too-big hotel bed, chirping of crickets in the hot summer air outside of the windows that don’t shut all the way.

They’re connected now. More so than they’ve ever been, because none of them have a safe place to call home anymore.

“We should sleep,” Bonnie whispers, and her voice is kind of hoarse. Elena’s eyes are already closed, and she’s ready to let go of the world she’s left behind. Caroline scoots in closer, as close as she possibly can, and glances over Elena’s hair to smile at Bonnie. They rest their heads on pillows, still fully clothed, and eventually they all fall asleep.


End file.
